


clumsy in love

by listenup_folks



Category: fifth harmony - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Spooky, ghost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 21:07:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12240606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/listenup_folks/pseuds/listenup_folks
Summary: Camila thinks she has a legitimate, diagnosable issue with her coordination.Lauren thinks it's funny to trip Camila.





	clumsy in love

**Author's Note:**

> of those of you who read falling over and though Lauren was going to be the ghost
> 
> watt pad Longerr_hours swing a follow if you're feeling it

"Chanch, I swear to fuck you're the clumsiest person in the world," Dinah laughs as Camila picks herself off the ground for the second time since the school day started. 

"I've told you before and I'll tell you again," Camila rolls her eyes as she steadies herself, not shocked that Dinah laughed instead of helped, "it's definitely not my fault, it has to be some like scientific fuck up with my body." 

"Whatever you say Walz," Dinah continues to chuckle as they make their way to class. 

It's always been like that, Camila falling and tripping and stumbling her way around, somehow managing to pull off the clumsiness but still who likes being clumsy. 

She swears it's an actual disability, as in she has coordination issues that could be diagnosed as an actual problem, but she'd already been cleared as not having anything like that. 

Her mom had made her go get checked out a few months ago and the doctor had had to find a polite way to say that there's absolutely nothing wrong with her feet. She'd thought maybe it was an extra bone that sent her off balance, or scoliosis, or literally anything, but it wasn't. She's just clumsy. 

Sometimes she feels like, and this is going to sound crazy so bare with her, but she feels like she's being pushed or pulled. Usually it's when she isn't falling, like when she manages to catch herself it feels like someone else did it, but sometimes she swears there's an invisible foot in front of her.

That day continues like the rest and she ends up with a sore ankle, a sore arm and a broken pencil.

"Fucking, fuck," Camila mumbles as she pushes her way through her door and stumbles on the frame, dropping her bag on her desk and making her way over to her bed. "My arm fucking hurts and my fucking favorite fucking pencil is fucking broken and-" she's had a bad day.

"Hey, at least you didn't break your pencil and your arm," and yikes, okay it gets worse with the random voice and-

"Oh my god!" Camila yells, hopping back in place only to be caught by the cold arms and brought down to sit slowly on the bed to avoid injury. 

"Holy shit did you just hear me?" the... thing asks, voice shocked but amused, also raspy and hot as fuck but Camila can't really think about that right now. 

And like, she knows it's not a thing it's a ghost, it looks like a ghost and a girl shaped ghost and Camila can't see the ghost after a second because she passes out. 

-

"Camila? Camz, c'mon wake up," she hears a soft voice as she wakes up, head cushioned on her pillows and warmth covering one side of her body, cold covering the other. 

"Five more minutes," Camila groans out, burying her face into the pillow more. Her mom's always annoying like this, no matter how many times she says she's getting up she doesn't leave her alone. 

"Camila you've been..." and wait, that's not her mom's voice, and the cold on her back is shifting and-'

"Holy shit," she's upright, and stiff and turns to face the, wait it's a normal girl. "Okay I don't wanna be rude," Camila starts as she stares uncertainly at the girl staring back at her, "but who on earth are you?" 

"Umm... that's kind of a long story but I'm Lauren," she replies and Camila remembers now what she'd seen before when the light catches Lauren's face and she's almost translucent. 

"You're umm... you're kind of like glowing," Camila says, and she gulps too because she's kind of scared as to who's sitting in her room and knows her name and she thought she was a ghost earlier but maybe she was just a girl following her around and maybe that's worse than a ghost but she's unsure and the girl is yet to answer and-

"It happens sometimes," she shrugs and Camila nods like an idiot. She's always been hopeless around pretty people, even if she isn't sure if they are a people. 

"So... you're Lauren," Camila continues after another moment of silence, and if she wasn't such a sucker for a pretty girl in her bed (as if that's ever happened before), then she'd be freaking out over the stranger, but she's somehow calm around Lauren. 

All Lauren offers up is a nod as she sits up a little bit in the bed so Camila matches her position before continuing, trying to get to the bottom of this without being rude (why does she care, this is literally a stranger in her room that just appeared and what the hecking heck?).

"And you're here because..?" she asks and like, now Lauren looks kind of uncertain but she begins to speak so Camila begins to listen. 

"Well this is kind of hard to explain... I've been here for a while, kind of at least, and like I guess you can hear me now? And see me now? I don't know why that is but-"

"Wait wait wait, are you like," and Camila pauses, eyes wide as she looks around the room as if checking for anyone else before continuing, "are you a ghost?" 

Lauren once again answer with a nod, and Camila should be freaking out but instead she wonders why this girl doesn't seem to talk too much. 

"You've been here for a while..." Camila says finally and it's after a few minutes maybe of just looking at Lauren with Lauren looking back. She isn't going to freak out, but Lauren seemed to be waiting for it. "Like as in in my room?" Camila asks with raised eyebrows and like, she shouldn't be wondering how many times this ghost has seen her naked but she is because her priorities are mixed up. 

"Umm, well more like with you? Yeah I've been with you, so wherever you are," Lauren answers and Camila should once again be scared but she is flattered? Seriously? Camila get your shit together. "Or like, in some cases just somewhere close," Lauren adds and so Camila nods again, not sure what to make of the information. Lauren didn't really give a reasoning for following Camila but she feels a little bit awkward asking. 

"So you're like... my personal ghost? Camila asks anyways after a moment because she is awkward so who cares. Her face still portrays her shock but now it's slightly less terrified, more intrigued. 

"Not exactly," Lauren answers with a shrug as she perches on Camila's bed. "I don't have to follow you around or whatever but you're like, really entertaining to be around - not in a bad way, of course. Or like, a creepy way, hopefully," Camila's kind of shocked that ghost can blush but yup this ghost is blushing and it's adorable. 

"I used to go to your school and I saw you once when I was visiting," Lauren continues and Camila chooses to ignore thinking the ghost is cute. "You like... you kinda fell down the stairs a little bit," she offers up but Camila falls down the stairs like, basically every day so that doesn't help clarify when. "It would've been a bad fall and um... I caught you. I pushed you back up and I steadied you and I've been tagging along ever since," she concludes, and Camila notices her tone switch a little bit when she brings up the fall but she hides it easily and Camila supposes she can ignore that too. 

"Okay," Camila nods and like, it's okay, she's surprisingly fine with this girl in her room because she seems cool, and there's something that feels oddly comforting about her, even if she's a ghost and Camila's been afraid of ghosts since she was six and she swore her house was haunted. 

But this ghost seems nice, different, so she just talks to her and it starts from there. 

-

"I can't fucking believe you've been purposely making me look stupid in front of Dinah for all these months," Camila spits, aggressively pulling her feet up in her chair and not pulling lout the homework she told Lauren she'd start this period. Lauren laughs in response. "You know I went to a legitimate doctor, right? Like I was-"

"God yeah, that was the best shit ever Camz, I almost cracked when I saw how upset you were but it was too funny to see you stumbling all day," Lauren laughs remembering dying laughing in the doctors office when Camila found out she was perfectly healthy, just awful at walking in a straight line. 

"You purposely tried to hurt me," Camila accused, crossing her arms and pouting like a child making Lauren laugh even harder. 

"No, no, absolutely not, I may have played sometimes, but I saved you from yourself so may times because I may have enhanced it,but you;re clumsy enough on your own," Lauren argues and Camila doesn't really have an argument so she just pouts until she wants to talk agh, which is ten minutes later. (Girl sure knows how to pout). 

 

"Hey Lo," Camila bugs for the twelfth time today alone. Lauren would bet money, you know if she used money, that it's another ghost joke. "What do you call a ghost who scares chickens?" and yup, it's another ghost joke. 

"I don't know Camz, what do you call a ghost who scares chickens?" she plays along, because it's Camila, and Lauren will listen to her jokes all the time, but seriously? It's first period and everybody in the library probably thinks Camila is a psychopath talking to herself, and Lauren kind of wants a nap, sick of having to come to school with her so early. 

"A poultry-ghost! Get it?" Camila exclaims, whisper shouts, and Lauren can't stifle a laugh because okay yeah, good one. 

"Don't you have calculus to be doing?" Lauren asks after she chuckles a little bit an Camila seems smug to have made her laugh again (obviously not aware yet that Lauren will laugh at everything she says).

"Can you do it for me? Since you're all old shouldn't you be good at math?" she asks and pulls her bag up to her lap but doesn't open it. That's enough progress in her mind for at least twenty minutes. 

"Nope," Lauren replies, propping her feet up on Camila's arm rest. "I only made it to junior year so pre calc is all I got, and come on, who remembers that shit forty years later?" and Camila's eyes shoot open because one, she just found out how old Lauren was when she died and she found out when it was and Lauren is... older than her mom? She has a crush on someone - scratch that - a fusing ghost that's older than her mother? Actually it's Lauren so she's over it already, but it's still a shock. 

They'd been hanging out, as in Camila had been able to see Lauren and communicate with her for a few weeks now. The two clicked fast, especially since both were harboring crushes and one (Camila, duh) was completely shameless about it. 

She'd somehow gotten pretty close to having a life mate, someone always with her and scaring her and, Camila found out she was right about being pushed and pulled sometimes because now she felt even more clearly the hands either pulling her upright or jokingly making her stumble. 

It'd been hard at first to remember that she was the only one who saw Lauren, and Dinah probably thinks she's insane at the amount of slip ups she's had, but she got used to it after a few days. 

In situations like these, she figures she can talk to Lauren quietly and people will assume she's on bluetooth phone or something since everybody does that shit nowadays. 

"Wait... is it like, offensive that I make ghost jokes?" Camila asks after a few moments of the two lost in thought and if Lauren could be heard by anyone else she'd be kicked out of the library for the loud laugh that escapes her lips at the question. 

"No Camila," she says midst laughing and Camila begins to giggle too at the thought of what she'd just said. "Do your math, babe," Lauren press again and pushes Camila's attention towards the bag and like, she'd called Camila pet names casually before and it's like, she's blushing mad hard. 

She doesn't mind that Lauren's a ghost and Lauren doesn't seem to mind that she's a human. 

They don't really talk about that fact though, that Lauren's a ghost. Other than those ghost jokes, that is. A few times it comes up though, and it always leaves both girls wondering about everything in the world as they know it. 

"So do all ghosts like, haunt wherever they die or something?" Camila asks, head rolling off the bed as Lauren rubs gently down her back, hoping she'll fall back asleep so Lauren can catch some too. She loves talking to Camila, don't get her wrong, but the girl doesn't shut up. 

"No they do not," she replies anyways. she could've pretended to be asleep, but she doesn't. "Usually they move onto... whatever it is that they move onto." 

It's silent for another moment and Lauren thinks maybe she's finally- "So why haven't you gone wherever it is that you'll go?" 

She sighs, not because of Camila still being awake, that's fine actually because now the girl is turned so her head is lolling onto Lauren's shoulder instead of off the bed and it's kind of the most comforting thing she's felt in forty years. 

She sighs because she doesn't know. She's been trying to move on ever since her accident happened. She's been desperately doing acts of good deeds for strangers (for example catching a pretty girl whenever she falls over the stairs) but nothing seems to be working. t's not that Lauren isn't loving Earth right now because she is, Earth with Camila is the bestest. She's just really, really confused on what she's supposed to be doing. 

Lauren misses her mom. She's gotten to see her once since she died, the night her mom died, and it was the reunion she'd hoped for, but when she woke up the next day her mother was gone and she was still here. 

Here. She doesn't even know where here is. Nobody on earth can see her or hear her or notice her other than Camila (which hey, she could be cheesy and say Camila is her whole world so technically the world can but nope nope no cheese right now) so she doesn't consider herself a resident of this planet, but where?

Lauren has interacted with other ghosts, and sometimes she's seen them just as lost as herself, but she's never seen a trick on how to escape this never ending loop of being stranded here. 

She has no clue why she's still here. (That's not true, she has her own cheesy, typical movie ideas, but she's really hoping whatever higher power is holding her hostage isn't as cliche as she is [A/N i totally am ;))))]).

"I'm not sure yet," she replies, and Camila's asleep, she knows it since she took too long to reply, but now she can't stop thinking enough to sleep. 

-

Camila finally fins out what happened to Lauren a few months into spending basically every waking moment and non waking moment with her. 

It was a bad day, as in Camila failed a test and she tripped on a step and nobody caught her and there was a fire alarm in third period, which is her study so she didn't get to do her homework, and Lauren had been missing since then. 

She's concerned, yeah, but she was kind of used to Lauren randomly disappearing and coming back so she tried to focus on school. 

When Lauren doesn't catch up to her after last period on her way walking home, she kind of does start to panic and does a u turn. She feels like she should check the school again, she thinks it's crush intuition. 

She finds Lauren sat on a staircase. It's one of the back ones and it takes Camila about half an hour of wandering aimlessly to find her, but when she does she's glad she looked because the girl looks defeated. 

"Lauren?" She asks, nervous to approach, but less nervous and more concerned when she gets closer and Camila can see how sad she looks. 

"It was right here," Lauren says, voice soft and eyes focused on the ground next to her as Camila hesitantly approaches. "It was during one of those bomb scares during the Vietnam War... we'd been having a lot of them lately but they were yet to be really perfected and well... I tripped and nobody stopped..." she trails off, letting Camila take a moment to understand what's been said, to connect the faint bruises littering Lauren's body.

She was trampled. 

She was tramped and killed and she must have been sitting here since the alarms went off earlier and Camila's heart breaks thinking of how terrified Lauren must have been then and now. 

"Lauren..." she starts, but stops. She can't say anything, there isn't anything to say. This will never be okay that tho girl, innocent and pure and beautiful and everything Camila admires in a person, this girl never got to experience life. Life never got to experience her. 

She's dead, she's not going to come back and Camila is grateful that at least she gets to be with Lauren, but nobody else will and it breaks her heart to think of such a beautiful soul (BuyBeautifulSoulbyJesseMccartneyoniTunes) not being shared with the world. 

"I'm fine now," Lauren cuts in the silence, not wanting Camila to think she has to say something bold. she knows the younger girl cares, can feel it and see it on her face and she's grateful. "It took me a while but I'm fine, I'm happy as I am and... I may have missed a lot but I've also gotten to see a lot as well." 

That's when Camila starts to notice that she's beginning to fall for Lauren, if she were to mark the point it would be right then. 

-

They get closer. 

They get closer and everything is going great but then Camila kind of ruins it for a second. 

It's on a movie night. They're watching The Last Five Years because Camila claims it's the best thing in the world and Lauren likes it but she can't get over what a douche bag the main guy is and she spends the whole movie critiquing him, and Camila kind of loves how passionate Lauren is about everything, how she's so lively for someone who technically isn't alive. 

She's ranting, passionately but "If I didn't Believe in you" is about to come on and Camila will be damned if she misses this song, so she shushes Lauren. 

When she turns to shush her she's so close though, sos close that her eyes shine and her lips are just right there and Camila leans in without a second thought. 

Lauren let's her kiss her. 

When their lips touch Camila swears she's never felt anything so amazing in her life. 

It's soft, slow, probably only a few seconds but Camila can see everything good and happy about everything she's ever experienced in the kiss. 

Lauren sees everything she remembers life being and pulls away before she can question what it means. Her eyes meet Camila's eyelids, fluttered closed and her face is covered in a light blushed and she's the most beautiful thing Lauren has ever seen and she thinks she might be in love with her. 

Then brown eyes open up and Lauren sees all the life that she's sure is lacking in her own. 

And so she runs. 

It takes her a while and she isn't quite sure where she's going but she ends up where she always ends up, the staircase that ended her old life (and that started her new one, but she doesn't think about that yet).

She feels like she's going insane. She should've left as soon as Camila could see her because she's dead. She's dead and Camila is alive, so alive and she can't pull her into this underworld with her. 

But everything before Camila was so dark, and now it;s not, every day with her becomes brighter and she's never been willing to get so hurt but she's put her whole self into Camila's hand, trusting her to hold her as close as possible. 

She doesn't want her to be put into danger, or risk being hurt, but she does want Camila to love her. 

She thinks maybe she might, and when Camila turns the corner of the hallway, out of breath and so uncoordinated and out of shape but, it looks like she ran for Lauren and Lauren is officially head over heels. 

"That transporting thing..." Camila says between pants, slowly approaching Lauren who looks more panicked than she ever has. "... that's unfair, you know I can't do that," she finishes and if Lauren weren't so torn she'd coo at how adorable Camila is. 

"Camila we can't-"

"We can Lauren, we can and we do," Camila cuts her off and Lauren flinches at the harshness of her voice, Camila seems to realize this as she calms herself before continuing, "we've been ignoring it but I'm done with that. I really like you Lauren, and I know you feel the same way and I'm sick of not acting on it."

"You shouldn't feel that way, we shouldn't feel this way," Lauren stresses, running a hand through her hair as she paces back and forth,avoiding contact with Camila who's anxiously watching her, trying to stop her ranting but failing to do so. "I'm dead Camila, I'm dead and I'm old and I'll probably be gone by the time-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Camila finally completely interrupts, shocking the older girl by being demanding. "Just stop for a minute Lo, look at me for a minute," she says and she approaches the older girl gently, finally having stopped her pacing and reaches for her hands. 

They're cold when she holds them, so she holds them tighter and tries her hardest to make Lauren feel as warm as her. 

Lauren lets her hold her hands but she can't look up. She's trying to resist, but Camila's touch makes her feel things she's never felt before. She feels safe, happy, for once not dead inside and out. 

"Lauren look at me," Camila says again, and it's soft, demanding but soft and gentle and when Lauren looks up Camila's eyes are so soft and caring and beautiful and it's so Camila. 

"I don't care," Camila finally says slowly. "I don't care if I might wake up one day to an empty bed and no note. I don't care that I could lose you in a heartbeat if something finally changes. I don't care that my dog will continue to bark at you whenever we go anywhere. I don't care that you're like forty years older than me either, I'm fucking in love with you Lauren Jauregui.

"I don't care that I can't introduce you to my parents and I don't care that my friends are always going to think I'm a single weirdo, and I don't care that sex is going to be freezing and I don't care that you're a fucking ghost. I just care about you, that's it Lauren. That's all there is for me, I care about you so much that it feels like I'll die if I don't get to show you for at least a little while." 

She's at aloes of words, Lauren doesn't think she's ever in her life and after life been so stunned and happy and grateful and suddenly she doesn't care about any of it either, hell she doesn't even care that she missed out on her old life because she's found a new life in Camila. 

"I love you too," she says, and it takes a moment to come out, because she;s at a loss for words,a and she wanted to say something bold and romantic like Camila did, but all she has is that and it's enough. 

-

"I think I'm still here because I'm supposed to be loving you," Lauren says, it's one night years later and she's still there and they're still together and they're happy and so so happy.

"I think you're right," Camila sighs, snuggling deeper into Lauren's arms. "And I think I'm still here because you're loving me." 

Lauren feels more alive than she ever has next to Camila, and Camila feels the same.


End file.
